How Catholic Med Students Cope

Discussing Faith and Pro-Life Issues at Secular Medical School

Medical
school is challenging academically — but also ethically and morally. That's why
Catholic students at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville,
Tenn., have formed new organizations that encourage discussions on the
relationship between faith and medicine, as
well as pro-life issues.

"During
my first year of medical school, a group of maybe six to eight of us would go
to Mass together on Sundays, and we kind of felt there was a need for it,"
recalls Mariu Carlo, a third-year medical student. "We were finding ourselves
in circumstances that were challenging to our morals. We thought it would be
great if we could share our faith with everything in medicine and have
fellowship among us — and invite others, too."

The
group plans lunchtime lectures on topics related to medicine and religion. A
physician-priest came to talk to them, as did Sister Mary Diana Dreger, M.D.,
of the Nashville Dominicans. Service projects are also organized, ranging from
assisting the local homeless population to cooking meals for the families
living at Ronald McDonald House while their pediatric patients undergo
treatment.

A
prayer group is also part of Cosmas & Damian's activities, with Scripture
meditations, praying the Rosary, and reflecting on the writing of saints. In
addition, the group has organized interfaith panels with the school's other religious
organizations. "It's really opened up discussions that have not been done
before," Carlo notes. "It's been really neat."

The
group's president, Brian Cruz, a second-year medical student, sees it as a way
to supplement going to Mass and other formal faith formation. "People can come
together to talk about the faith in prayer or service opportunities. It's a
supplemental outlet, a way for us to connect and do things as a group."

For a pro-life but nonreligious
focus there is Leaders In the Fight for Every patient (LIFE), started last year
by Jessica Adams during her first year at Vanderbilt.

Pro-Life Dialogue

Adams, who is Catholic, recalls that
when she was a first-year medical student there was no pro-life group on
campus. "Being as pro-life as I am, I saw it as an opportunity," she said.

But Adams felt that it was important
to keep religion out of the premise. "As a Roman Catholic, my faith brings me
into the pro-life realm. But because the medical school community is pretty
secular, I didn't want to bring in the religious component and have
nonreligious students be turned off by it or see it as an excuse not to listen,
especially since points can be made from the pro-life perspective that are not
religious at all, but are based on morality, facts and science. I wanted to
include as many people as possible."

The group's lunchtime lectures draw
Christians and those of other faiths, as well as agnostics and atheists. "We're
trying to encourage others to learn more. We need to have a dialogue," Adams
says. "No one wants to talk about it," she said, "especially at a secular
institution. The underlying understanding is that you are left to your morals
and faith, but don't talk about it because it makes
people uncomfortable."

They've
covered life issues from conception to end-of-life care. Their advisor, Dr.
Wesley Ely, a critical care physician and researcher at Vanderbilt — also a
Catholic and adviser to the Society of Saints Cosmas & Damian — is able to
share his expertise about these life-related topics.

"There is a climate change,
definitely, regarding discussions about life and the importance of the sanctity
of life in all stages. We want to hit all aspects of life, that it's all a
blessing, that we don't have the right to take it in all phases,"
Ely notes. "It's the full gamut. Death is a part of that process, so improving
the quality of dying is important, the transition from cure to comfort. All aspects
of life are important to us as health-care professionals."

He is proud of the students:
"They're very committed to it. It's very inspiring. I'm so proud of the
students for saying, 'We have to talk about this. We want to have these
conversations.'"

Good Response

Ely adds that he's been "very
favorably impressed" by the response of
colleagues. "Quite a few Catholic attendings have been coming, especially
regarding Society of Saints Cosmas & Damian events. With LIFE, it's a cast
of characters — all ages and levels of training."

Father
John Sims Baker, Vanderbilt's Catholic chaplain, is also impressed with these
groups. "There was a fundamental importance to start this and respond to the
particular call to holiness in their lives," he said." "It's good and important for Catholics to be
able to support one another in their particular field. You can"t really be a
Catholic by yourself." And talking about the dignity of the human person is
vitally important: "It broadens the dialogue we can have with other people of
good will."

A
third organization is also making headway in Nashville: A new chapter of the
Catholic Medical Association started last December, upon the suggestion of
Bishop David Choby, who wanted local physicians to be available to offer advice
on complicated life issues.

"We
have had several events at the motherhouse of the Dominicans here in
Nashville," Ely says, "with vespers, reconciliation and speakers."

Carlo
sees the association as another way to integrate faith and medicine. "We can
tie our medical school group with the Catholic doctors' group," she says.
"Students are members of both. That's wonderful."

According
to Patrick Beeman, president of the Catholic Medical Students Association,
students across the country are making sure their faith is part of their future
careers. More than 85 new members have joined, and five new chapters have
formed or are in the process of forming. "The CMSA strives to inform its
members that the Church presents 'a better way' and that we, as soon-to-be
physicians, serve Christ through our patients," he said. "Faith must inform
practice."

That's
what the Vanderbilt groups are trying to do. "We want to know medicine well,
but we also want to grow in our faith and be good people to serve our patients well,"
Carlo says. "There are all kinds of threats to our values in the environment we
go to school in. In general, the students just like to have somewhere to
express their faith and grow deeper in the faith. It's refreshing to talk to
other people who want to live the faith as doctors."

Comments

I’m a biology/pre-med major at Franciscan University of Steubenville and felt the need to express my joy upon reading this article. Attending a medical school with little to no morals/religious perspective is quite daunting but the society of Sts. Cosmas and Damien increases my hope for Catholics hoping to enter the health profession but concerned that they will have no outlet for their faith and no understanding among their peers. Thank you.

Join the Discussion

We encourage a lively and honest discussion of our content. We ask that charity guide your words.
By submitting this form, you are agreeing to our discussion guidelines.
Comments are published at our discretion. We won’t publish comments that lack charity, are off topic, or are more than 400 words.
Thank you for keeping this forum thoughtful and respectful.